Nothing to See Here...

[Sherry E]

I love your t-shirts!! I have a guess why it says HIP on the tag.....this is when having daughters that are teenaged or young adults come in handy. I bet that he is hipster Mickey!


Maybe Stitch figured you guys wanted to eat.

Michele -

I figured that it was something like that (the "HIP" code word being short for hipster), but I guess I didn't really know that it was a specific hipster look! I saw it and just thought, "Oh, how cute - he's wearing glasses!" It never dawned on me that Mickey was a hipster. From what the CM who rang me up told me, that shirt is very popular. I couldn't believe it was still available 6 months after I first saw it, especially with the influx of holiday merchandise and 2013 merchandise hitting the shelves. I figured I'd better grab the "HIP" shirt at that moment or I probably wouldn't get another shot at it.

Liza and I had not even made it to the buffet to get our food at the time that Stitch came by. We were looking at something or talking about something when Stitch came over. I was trying to get the camera set to take a picture, and Stitch shrugged as if we weren't interested in him and walked off before I got the camera set. Carrie/Escape2Disney (who Laurie met at Trader Sam's) said that she had a similar experience with Stitch when her group ate at Surf's Up - he wasn't interested in her/their table (at which none of whom were small children) at all either! (But Stitch appears to be really great with kids, so that is important to note!)

It took a while before I got to the buffet because the characters were coming by and then Laurie came by. When Laurie went back to her table I went to the buffet. Mike was at the buffet too - either getting food or taking photos - and he showed me the camera he had, but I barely had a chance to look at it.

I heard Laurie telling one of her kids (who must have questioned who in the heck I was when they saw her talking to me), "That's the moderator..."

 

[PlutoRocks]

Great updates! I love the shirts too! The lightening one is awesome - i love the color of the mickey against the black.

I'm glad you had a good last day at the park and got to ride both holiday rides. the breakfast looks fun but I agree, I prefer to get myself settled and get my food before I have to start jumping up to get pictures. I don't adjust well to those types of things and tend to get irritated and a bit grouchy if I am pushed to change gears too fast - my sisters call that "part of my charm"

I am still sorry your friend didn't come through and spend any time with you at the parks this year. It can be hard to find out who really cares about you - trust me I've had a lot of that in recent years and it isn't fun.

can't wait to read the wrap up.

OH - the weather - that's what I wanted to mention. Here in Phoenix we have been getting down to the LOW 20s in the nights - ridiculous!! Our highs are only low 50s. So crazy! We have to endure extremely hot temperatures in summer we shouldn't have to also endure extremely cold temperatures in winter. Winter is supposed to be the payoff for the summer! Oh well - what are you gonna do?

Take care! I'm still here and still reading!

 

[Sherry E]

Great updates! I love the shirts too! The lightening one is awesome - i love the color of the mickey against the black.

I'm glad you had a good last day at the park and got to ride both holiday rides. the breakfast looks fun but I agree, I prefer to get myself settled and get my food before I have to start jumping up to get pictures. I don't adjust well to those types of things and tend to get irritated and a bit grouchy if I am pushed to change gears too fast - my sisters call that "part of my charm"

I am still sorry your friend didn't come through and spend any time with you at the parks this year. It can be hard to find out who really cares about you - trust me I've had a lot of that in recent years and it isn't fun.

can't wait to read the wrap up.

OH - the weather - that's what I wanted to mention. Here in Phoenix we have been getting down to the LOW 20s in the nights - ridiculous!! Our highs are only low 50s. So crazy! We have to endure extremely hot temperatures in summer we shouldn't have to also endure extremely cold temperatures in winter. Winter is supposed to be the payoff for the summer! Oh well - what are you gonna do?

Take care! I'm still here and still reading!

Thank you, Dawn!

I really appreciate that you're still here (along with TK & PHXscuba). So many other former followers have vanished!

There were probably a good 4 or 5 black Mickey t-shirts in World of Disney that I liked enough to buy, but I wanted to limit it to 2. The lightning one (I agree - I like the coloring of it) sort of said "Halloween Time" to me, and the "HIP" shirt with the glasses was something I wanted since last June.

I'm sure that Surf's Up isn't always quite so fast-paced and hectic. There are probably other days I could go there and have a chance to get settled in. But that was not the day.

And I totally, completely know what you mean - I get grouchy and also don't adjust well if I feel rushed or pushed into changing gears before I'm ready! I like to do things at my own pace. I am so used to having that 'settling in time' at Goofy's Kitchen (and even at the Critter Breakfast) that I wasn't expecting Surf's Up to be a go, go, go type of situation because I'd always heard that it was less busy than Goofy's.

Here is the real issue - the core issue - that bugs me about my friend not showing up (and totally blowing me off, ignoring my messages): inconsistency. Yes, it is disrespectful and inconsiderate to totally ignore messages and to have no regard for the time it took me to contact her. And yes, it is sad that she didn't show up and that our tradition of a Goofy's Kitchen visit was tossed out the window.

BUT, the thing that really, really bugs me underneath everything else is when people behave inconsistently within a short time frame. When people act a certain way or say they will do certain things, and then just a few weeks later they suddenly act as though they never said those things or never made those plans, it frustrates me beyond belief. It's like certain people don't even want to acknowledge that they ever said X, Y or Z. It would be so easy to just say, "I know I said I would come and meet you, but [fill in the blank] came up and I can't." My friend would still be backing out on the plan, but at least she would be acknowledging that she did say she would come to see me at one point - instead of just not communicating at all and leaving me to figure everything out for myself.

So that is my main gripe - when people behave inconsistently in a short period of time and act like they don't even remember certain conversations/decisions/plans from before.

The Wrap-Up is coming soon - I was initially going to post a photo highlight reel/recap of what I did on the trip. Then I thought I might post a photo highlight reel of my favorite parts of the trip (which could vary slightly from the photos of what I did). Then I thought I might just post my favorite photos (since I said before I started this TR that I wasn't going to reveal which photos were my favorites at that point). So my brain locked up in trying to decide!

I would not mind the low 20's that you all are having in Phoenix at night if I could get some snow with that too! We have definitely dropped below freezing on some nights, and had many other nights of 35 or 38-degree weather. But there is no snow in my specific area of SoCal. There is snow (and even colder weather) in many other SoCal cities, but not in my neck of the woods. We had a wee bit of frost in the morning over this past weekend, but no snow here in the heart of L.A. Just once I would love to see some natural snow falling in L.A. I don't care what time of night it is - if I ever see snow falling in my neighborhood, I will bundle up and run outside!

However...although I would love to have your 20-degree temperatures (I'll just bundle up in every piece of clothing I have), you can have your extremely hot weather in the Summer and Fall! I do not want any of that heat!

 

[rentayenta]

Nice update and how sweet of your friend to treat you to breakfast. I'm still here.

 

[lsulindy]

Finally made it over here to check out your mask photos. Gorgeous photos! And gorgeous masks. I hope my crew will allow me a few moments to appreciate them! My mom used to have some hanging in our entryway when I was a kid and they really creeped me out! (She also had a huge painting of two owls in the living room. It was dark brown owls in a tree with dark brown/black leaves. The only color was the yellow/orange eyes of the owls. When you got up during the night, there were just these eyes looking at you. I don't know what she was trying to do to us!) Anyway, thanks so much for sharing. I'm glad they'll still be up for the Mardi Gras festivities during our trip.

Hopefully I can catch up with the rest of your report soon!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Just got back a few days ago from my DLR trip and see that you have posted a new one. I will tell you a lot about the experience at GK during my visit which everyone in my party really liked it a lot. Thank you Sherry for the tips at GK.

Very nice photos from your room that morning. A little cloudy that night which is typical in SoCal.

Nice to see that you had breakfast at PCH Grill Surf's Up that morning with Liza and Laurie. I might have to try that character breakfast one day at the PPH. That was very nice of Liza and Laurie to treat you and take you home later that day. It was nice of you to write up about the PCH Grill Surf's Up breakfast and compare it with GK which you have eaten at a lot in your past trips.

I like all of your photos with the characters and it was neat that you were able to see Stitch that morning for breakfast.

 

[lsulindy]

Thank you Sherry for the tips at GK.

Where can I find your GK tips? We'll be doing that and Minnie & Friends. I don't know why but I tend to get flustered and frazzled at character meals, so any tips are appreciated!

 

[mvf-m11c]

Where can I find your GK tips? We'll be doing that and Minnie & Friends. I don't know why but I tend to get flustered and frazzled at character meals, so any tips are appreciated!

You can also find tips on the Character Meals Super Thread!! which will tell you everything about the character meals at the DLR.

 

[wiigirl]

I love that lightning Mickey shirt!

 

[azdisneylover]

Finally got caught up while everyone is asleep! DH will be getting up in a couple of hours to head out of town to work. (4 days out, home for 3, makes life interesting to say the least). Great trip report. Absolutely love all the photos, especially of the flowers. The yellow daisies during winter. Cool. I can't believe you only went on 3 rides the whole time you were there. I am glad you had a better trip than the one prior.

 

[Sherry E]

Somehow I didn't realize there were new messages here (apparently dating back to 4 days ago)! I didn't get any e-mail alerts until Linda/azdisneylover posted! What's funny is that I was even in the TR section, commenting on other folks' trip reports, a couple of days ago and still didn't see that I had new messages in my own thread. I just assumed that there wasn't any new activity. I think that when a thread drops down past the #10 spot on the page (because the forum is hoppin' and many people are doing reports), I just assume that there are no new posts in it (and we can't always rely on the e-mail alerts).

Anyway, I still have one final Wrap-Up post to put up, to complete the December 2012 trip report. I was trying to search for a couple of links to include in it and couldn't find them, but I got an additional piece of info yesterday that I will add in to one of the paragraphs.

Nice update and how sweet of your friend to treat you to breakfast. I'm still here.

Thanks, Jenny!

I'm glad you posted because you reminded me that I have to include a link to your last DLR holiday TR (from November 2011) in the brand new Christmas/Holiday Season Superthread. We hit the page limit on the previous Superthread, and I had to begin a new one. In the new thread, on Page 1, have a separate post just for links to holiday trip reports, both the in-progress reports and the completed ones. I put a bunch of them in, but I knew I was leaving out some specific ones that I wanted to include and I couldn't recall whose I had omitted. When I saw your post with the "Strike Yer Colors..." title, I realized yours was one I had intended to add to the list of links!

Yes, DizNee Luver/Laurie was very kind to treat me to Surf's Up. I felt guilty about it because it was not necessary! We were at separate tables, after all. Plus, she had also treated me to Goofy's Kitchen back in December 2011.

Finally made it over here to check out your mask photos. Gorgeous photos! And gorgeous masks. I hope my crew will allow me a few moments to appreciate them! My mom used to have some hanging in our entryway when I was a kid and they really creeped me out! (She also had a huge painting of two owls in the living room. It was dark brown owls in a tree with dark brown/black leaves. The only color was the yellow/orange eyes of the owls. When you got up during the night, there were just these eyes looking at you. I don't know what she was trying to do to us!) Anyway, thanks so much for sharing. I'm glad they'll still be up for the Mardi Gras festivities during our trip.

Hopefully I can catch up with the rest of your report soon!

lsulindy -

Welcome! I'm so glad you made it over here, and I wish that I had seen that you posted before now! (I don't know why I didn't get an e-mail alert.)

Thank you! I knew the mask photos would be of particular interest to you, as you are a Mardi Gras attendee and a New Orleans resident. I definitely wanted to make sure that you saw the photos before your trip, as some of the masks are more 'out of the way' than others and not necessarily as noticeable. (Even Laurie/DizNee Luver didn't notice many of them!)

I am pretty sure that all of the masks will still be up during Disneyland's Mardi Gras celebration - I can't really see why any of them would be taken down. At first I thought that maybe the decorations/enhancement team might take down the masks that looked too Christmas-y and just leave the rest of them up. But the cool thing about those masks is that none of them - not even the red one - look too Christmas-y so they should all be able to stay up into March.

Many of the masks you will see if you kind of walk along the outskirts of New Orleans Square, parallel to the Rivers of America. There is a series of masks adorning the lampposts right along the pathway between NOS and RoA. And there are masks on both sides of those posts (which are not identical, but are the same theme and color). Those are the easier ones to spot.

Then, when you walk into the alleys and side streets of NOS you will spot more masks (like the red one and the white/gold one). There is one post with a mask located in the Cafe Orleans seating area (so I had to wait for people to finish eating before I could get to it!). There is a double-sided post/mask (the really cool one with the red & blue coloring) that is located sort of on the edge of the Pirates of the Caribbean queue. And then, of course, there are masks hanging from some of the balconies or ironwork.

Okay, I was about the painting of the owls! I must agree - that would have totally creeped me out to see those yellow eyes in the middle of the night. I think that anything that has a face of some sort - a painting or a sculpture or a mask - would start to unnerve me after a while because I've probably seen way too many TV shows or movies where paintings some to life, or dolls come to life, or whatever it is. Whenever something with a 'face' comes to life in TV or films, it's never a good thing!

Also - and I can't recall if I read this in your own Pre-TR or in another TR, as I read bits and pieces of many reports but don't always have time to pop in and comment - but I know you were saying that people have an idea about Mardi Gras in New Orleans as being this wild event all of the time, when it actually is quite family-friendly. I think you're right - the image that most folks (who don't live in NOLA) have is that Mardi Gras is one long debauchery-filled sort of celebration, and that it doesn't come across as necessarily family-friendly.

One of my (former) friends is from New Orleans and he has always talked about Mardi Gras as though it is as big of a 'holiday' as Christmas. He and his family always attend the festivities every year, including the young kids. He has never mentioned anything inappropriate happening at the parades or the daytime events.

I hope you get a chance to catch up on this TR but I totally understand the lack of time to do that, especially when you're preparing for your trip and working on your own Pre-TR!

Just got back a few days ago from my DLR trip and see that you have posted a new one. I will tell you a lot about the experience at GK during my visit which everyone in my party really liked it a lot. Thank you Sherry for the tips at GK.

Very nice photos from your room that morning. A little cloudy that night which is typical in SoCal.

Nice to see that you had breakfast at PCH Grill Surf's Up that morning with Liza and Laurie. I might have to try that character breakfast one day at the PPH. That was very nice of Liza and Laurie to treat you and take you home later that day. It was nice of you to write up about the PCH Grill Surf's Up breakfast and compare it with GK which you have eaten at a lot in your past trips.

I like all of your photos with the characters and it was neat that you were able to see Stitch that morning for breakfast.

Bret -

Thank you.

As I mentioned to you in your TR, I'm so glad that Goofy's Kitchen was a success - for the most part. Of course, it's not good that the 2 Princesses in the restaurant never made it to your table to meet DD2 since she loves Princesses. But at least the other characters came over and the selection of food was appealing.

I thought the clouds moving in made for more dramatic pictures that morning. The clouds added an extra layer to the sunrise photos that wouldn't have otherwise been there on a clear day.

It was very nice of Laurie to treat at Surf's Up, and for Liza to drive me home. I treated Liza to breakfast, so it got a little confusing for the server because he had to put my meal on Laurie's tab and then apply my AP discount to my bill for Liza's meal. But it all worked out okay!

Of course, we only saw Stitch. He didn't pose for any photos with us.

The main reasons I like Surf's Up are because Mickey is there, and Daisy Duck is there. It's good to have a character meal with Mickey, and I'm actually shocked that Surf's Up is not much busier than it is for exactly that reason - people want to meet Mickey. I guess that a lot of folks don't want to walk across the street to get to the PPH. I would bet that if Surf's Up were located in the DLH or in one of the parks, it would be much busier all of the time.

All in all, though, I'm a Goofy's Kitchen gal through and through and it would be hard for any other character meal to impress me soooo much that I put it above Goofy's.

Where can I find your GK tips? We'll be doing that and Minnie & Friends. I don't know why but I tend to get flustered and frazzled at character meals, so any tips are appreciated!

lsulindy -

I don't know if I gave Bret/mvf-m11c any specific tips for Goofy's other than just sharing my experiences there. He knows that I've been going there a long time.

I've been eating at GK on just about every single DLR trip (with the exception of 2 or 3 visits) since 1992, and I've gone to DLR a lot since 1992. Goofy's Kitchen is definitely one of my few areas of Disneyland resort 'expertise,' I guess you could say (along with the holiday season, Halloween Time and the Paradise Pier Hotel) - especially the GK breakfast/brunch. So I just relate my experiences eating there after each trip, in this thread - except for that my usual GK companion stood me up on this past December 2012 trip so I skipped GK for the first time in a while.

You can also find tips on the Character Meals Super Thread!! which will tell you everything about the character meals at the DLR.

Bret -

Thanks for posting the link to Laurie's thread. I'm sure Laurie appreciates it too!

I love that lightning Mickey shirt!

wiigirl -

Welcome!

I'm glad someone else likes that shirt! I knew that most people would like the glasses ("HIP") shirt, but the lightning shirt seems to be hit or miss. I like it because I think it is a creative design, but also it can be worn during the Halloween Time season and make sense within that theme!

There was also a really cute DJ Mickey shirt that I wanted to get, but I had to limit my shirt-buying to 2 shirts.

Finally got caught up while everyone is asleep! DH will be getting up in a couple of hours to head out of town to work. (4 days out, home for 3, makes life interesting to say the least). Great trip report. Absolutely love all the photos, especially of the flowers. The yellow daisies during winter. Cool. I can't believe you only went on 3 rides the whole time you were there. I am glad you had a better trip than the one prior.

Hi, Linda!

I wondered where you had disappeared to and why you hadn't popped in to comment! I'm glad you made it back before the thread is closed (at Page 250, which will be soon). I figured you would have had some interesting observations about the awkwardly amusing 'table sharing incident' when I was eating my peppermint ice cream, but I think some readers skipped over that part.

Yes, the yellow flowers during Christmas time were quite funny. My favorite flowers were the vibrant red, white and green ones at the Candlelight Processional stage - which I couldn't even see at night, during the actual ceremony. They were only visible in the daytime.

Which Mardi Gras mask was your favorite? Which Adventureland mask did you like? I kind of think I like the 'teeth' mask that TK mentioned a while back!

The trip was better than the one in December 2011, but my friend still stood me up/blew me off...so that part didn't make me happy!

 

[PlutoRocks]

Thank you, Dawn!

I really appreciate that you're still here (along with TK & PHXscuba). So many other former followers have vanished!

There were probably a good 4 or 5 black Mickey t-shirts in World of Disney that I liked enough to buy, but I wanted to limit it to 2. The lightning one (I agree - I like the coloring of it) sort of said "Halloween Time" to me, and the "HIP" shirt with the glasses was something I wanted since last June.

I'm sure that Surf's Up isn't always quite so fast-paced and hectic. There are probably other days I could go there and have a chance to get settled in. But that was not the day.

And I totally, completely know what you mean - I get grouchy and also don't adjust well if I feel rushed or pushed into changing gears before I'm ready! I like to do things at my own pace. I am so used to having that 'settling in time' at Goofy's Kitchen (and even at the Critter Breakfast) that I wasn't expecting Surf's Up to be a go, go, go type of situation because I'd always heard that it was less busy than Goofy's.

Here is the real issue - the core issue - that bugs me about my friend not showing up (and totally blowing me off, ignoring my messages): inconsistency. Yes, it is disrespectful and inconsiderate to totally ignore messages and to have no regard for the time it took me to contact her. And yes, it is sad that she didn't show up and that our tradition of a Goofy's Kitchen visit was tossed out the window.

BUT, the thing that really, really bugs me underneath everything else is when people behave inconsistently within a short time frame. When people act a certain way or say they will do certain things, and then just a few weeks later they suddenly act as though they never said those things or never made those plans, it frustrates me beyond belief. It's like certain people don't even want to acknowledge that they ever said X, Y or Z. It would be so easy to just say, "I know I said I would come and meet you, but [fill in the blank] came up and I can't." My friend would still be backing out on the plan, but at least she would be acknowledging that she did say she would come to see me at one point - instead of just not communicating at all and leaving me to figure everything out for myself.

So that is my main gripe - when people behave inconsistently in a short period of time and act like they don't even remember certain conversations/decisions/plans from before.

The Wrap-Up is coming soon - I was initially going to post a photo highlight reel/recap of what I did on the trip. Then I thought I might post a photo highlight reel of my favorite parts of the trip (which could vary slightly from the photos of what I did). Then I thought I might just post my favorite photos (since I said before I started this TR that I wasn't going to reveal which photos were my favorites at that point). So my brain locked up in trying to decide!

I would not mind the low 20's that you all are having in Phoenix at night if I could get some snow with that too! We have definitely dropped below freezing on some nights, and had many other nights of 35 or 38-degree weather. But there is no snow in my specific area of SoCal. There is snow (and even colder weather) in many other SoCal cities, but not in my neck of the woods. We had a wee bit of frost in the morning over this past weekend, but no snow here in the heart of L.A. Just once I would love to see some natural snow falling in L.A. I don't care what time of night it is - if I ever see snow falling in my neighborhood, I will bundle up and run outside!

However...although I would love to have your 20-degree temperatures (I'll just bundle up in every piece of clothing I have), you can have your extremely hot weather in the Summer and Fall! I do not want any of that heat!

Hi Sherry! Thank you for the thoughtful reply - sorry it took me so long to get back here. Good grief!

The inconsistency thing drives me a bit crazy too - just acknowledge that you initially said one thing and are now doing another. I understand things change and people change their mind but just acknowledge it.

I'll be off work all next week so I don't know when/if i'll have internet access. I'm going to the Phoenix Open (golf tournament) next week and my mom is having surgery so it is going to be a busy week.

Take care!

 

[Sherry E]

Hi Sherry! Thank you for the thoughtful reply - sorry it took me so long to get back here. Good grief!

The inconsistency thing drives me a bit crazy too - just acknowledge that you initially said one thing and are now doing another. I understand things change and people change their mind but just acknowledge it.

I'll be off work all next week so I don't know when/if i'll have internet access. I'm going to the Phoenix Open (golf tournament) next week and my mom is having surgery so it is going to be a busy week.

Take care!

Hi, Dawn!

I appreciate that you took the time to pop in and comment, especially with limited Internet access and so much going on.

The inconsistency thing is really always at the core of most of my issues with friends (when there are issues, that is). People say or do one thing and then suddenly make a 180-degree turn and behave as though they never said/did that thing. People can change their minds or things can "come up," of course, but in the case of my friend Shawn she lives 5 minutes away from Disneyland and there would be little to no reason that she couldn't show up just to see me for a few hours. There wouldn't really be much of an excuse short of a family emergency or a serious illness. So I think that's why she got quiet and stopped communicating. She knew that any excuse she made would sound weak and so she opted to stay silent and not say anything rather than contacting me and discussing it. It's not a real "friend"-ly thing to do.

Have fun at the golf tournament! And good luck to your mom - I hope all goes well with the surgery!

 

[lsulindy]

I haven't had time to write the response that I want to write. I usually pop over to the DIS in 2-3 minute increments. But, I haven't forgotten and am not trying to be rude!

 

[guineapiggie]

Sherry, glad to see that your thread is still active. I actually thought about you today when I went to HK Disneyland. Yes, I am currently in HK until Thurs. Made it out to Disneyland today. Although, being a Tues, it was still very crowded with tourists.

Since HK Disneyland caters more to Chinese culture, you find a mix of Disney stuff and Asian culture. Chinese New Year is in less than 2 weeks, so you find lots of Chinese decorations mixed in with the Disney stuff (from window displays, to souvenirs, to foodstuff). I took a bunch of pics of window decorations since they are different than the ones at Disneyland. More of an Asian touch. I even bought some red lucky envelopes (Chinese people put money in these envelopes and give them to relatives for luck). The red envelopes have Disney characters on them with Chinese words for "luck". When I get back to the States I plan to do a TR and post some of my pics up.

 

[Sherry E]

This is 'one of those days,' as the saying goes. Big spills in the kitchen...cable mysteriously going out on 75% of my channels, and cable company has no clue why because on their end it looks as though I'm getting a signal...Internet browser crashing when I'm just about to post something...sigh... Fun fun fun.

I haven't had time to write the response that I want to write. I usually pop over to the DIS in 2-3 minute increments. But, I haven't forgotten and am not trying to be rude!

lsulindy -

Oh, it's no problem at all! Believe me, I totally understand. It takes a lot of time to keep up with your own TR or Pre-TR and follow a couple of others regularly, let alone try to add in new ones to the repertoire.

I understand about the short increments too - I'm like that on Facebook. Sometimes I don't sign onto Facebook for a week or two, and if I do it is for a quick second (maybe to change my profile pic and "like" something that is right there on my News Feed) and then I sign right off. I suppose I do that here on the DIS as well.

I appreciate that you popped in again to let me know you're still there!

Sherry, glad to see that your thread is still active. I actually thought about you today when I went to HK Disneyland. Yes, I am currently in HK until Thurs. Made it out to Disneyland today. Although, being a Tues, it was still very crowded with tourists.

Since HK Disneyland caters more to Chinese culture, you find a mix of Disney stuff and Asian culture. Chinese New Year is in less than 2 weeks, so you find lots of Chinese decorations mixed in with the Disney stuff (from window displays, to souvenirs, to foodstuff). I took a bunch of pics of window decorations since they are different than the ones at Disneyland. More of an Asian touch. I even bought some red lucky envelopes (Chinese people put money in these envelopes and give them to relatives for luck). The red envelopes have Disney characters on them with Chinese words for "luck". When I get back to the States I plan to do a TR and post some of my pics up.

guineapiggie -

I appreciate that you thought to check in from Hong Kong! How exciting that you're there now!

I love the idea of the special Chinese New Year decorations/displays, as well as the red envelopes with characters! I would imagine that many of the decorations are different even outside of the Chinese New Year celebration because the culture is so different.

The TR should be great - I know that I (and whoever is following my TR silently out there) would probably be very eager to see all of your photos from Hong Kong Disneyland. I think there is some sort of forum for the international trip reports around here, isn't there? It seems like I've seen a forum. Is it the Global Neighbors forum? I can't recall. I'll check and see!

Have a great time!

 

[kaoden39]

I want a link when the Hong Kong trip report starts. I would love to see it.


Signed,
A Sometimes Lurker Named Michele

 

[tksbaskets]

I want a link when the Hong Kong trip report starts. I would love to see it.


Signed,
A Sometimes Lurker Named Michele

Ditto!

 

[PHXscuba]

OK Sherry, I'm ready for the wrap-up. I want to see which photos ended up being your favorites!

PHXscuba

 

[DizNee Luver]

Well I finally made it back over to see the end of your trip report!! Nice pics of Gavin's backside..... You should have just backed up like you were getting a picture of the whole area but then zoom in on him.....he would have never known.

I'm so glad you told me about the nutcrackers!! I just love my Mickey Santa one & might have to add to my collection.......

As for the character meal.....I still feel horrible that we forgot to wait....it would have been awesome having you both sitting with us. I'm usually so organized........ As for the treating you......consider it a Christmas Gift!!! It was my pleasure!!

I think you're probably right regarding Minnie & Friends.......We were probably at Minnie's 30 minutes before Mike & I were able to go up and get our food. The characters came one right after another. Great for pics & interaction.....but not always easy to actually eat the meal. Sounds like you got "jumped" right when you got to your table at Surf's Up......we usually have a few minutes before that happens, but it might depend on where the characters are in their rotation.

I do enjoy the different options and always avoid the scrambled eggs!!! lol I'm glad you're willing to try it again in the future!!

Goofy's Kitchen was really good for us this past December!! So it's back on my good list when it comes to our family. In 2010.....not so hot!! Always love the food there....so many choices!!! (our visit in Dec 11 was also a good experience).

Love the shirts!!! I've also noticed the shirts quality going down. I have a couple shirts I got years ago that are still in good shape, but one's I bought 2 yrs ago are full of holes. Derek says the thin tees are called California Tees and he said they were great for when he was in Florida......but for me to buy that style for Oregon wouldn't make much sense. Besides, I like knowing I have a good quality material! Especially for the prices they charge!

GREAT REPORT FILLED WITH AWESOME PICTURES!!!! Thank You!!!